New Zealand Economy

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s 2017 election promise to ‘fix’ the nation’s housing affordability crisis has taken another hit, with investors increasingly crowding-out first home buyers (FHB).

Westpac economists forecast that New Zealand property prices will soar by 17% in 2021 – one of the strongest rises in the nation’s history on the back of rock-bottom mortgage rates.

The plan for a Trans-Tasman Travel Bubble allowing quarantine-free travel between Australia and New Zealand has hit another snag with Australia declaring New Zealand a “red zone” after new community transmissions were recorded in its largest city of Auckland.

The promised Trans-Tasman Travel bubble, which was supposed to enable unrestricted two-way travel between Australia and New Zealand, has drifted further into the never-never.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) yesterday performed a stunning U-turn, reintroducing loan-to-value (LVR) mortgage restrictions just 10 months after such restrictions were lifted to aid the nation’s COVID-19 response.

New Zealand unemployment has confounded even the most bullish expectations, falling to just 4.9% in the December quarter, according to Statistics New Zealand.

As we know, New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, was elected in 2017 on a platform of fixing New Zealand’s chronic housing crisis.

The housing affordability situation in New Zealand has gone from bad to worse, with new data released by the RBNZ showing that the value of New Zealand’s housing stock hit $1.28 trillion in the September 2020 quarter, up 10.7% year on year.

New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, was elected in 2017 on a platform of fixing New Zealand’s chronic housing crisis.

With New Zealand house prices spiraling out of control, surging 18.4% year-on-year: New Zealand’s largest home lender ANZ has dropped the hammer on property investors, requiring investors to have 40% deposits: The country’s largest home lender ANZ says from now it will require investors to have 40% deposits.

The on again, off again Trans-Tasman travel bubble has been approved in principle by New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

On Friday, the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) delivered the sobering news that New Zealand house prices have surged to another all-time high following 18.4% growth year-on-year: It was also reported last week that New Zealand’s home ownership rate has fallen to its lowest level in around 70 years.

Statistics New Zealand has released a new report showing that New Zealand’s home ownership rate has fallen to around the lowest level in 70-years: Homeownership at lowest rate since the 1950s Data on home ownership has been collected in census since 1916.

New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, was elected in 2017 on a platform of fixing New Zealand’s chronic housing crisis.

New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, was elected in 2017 on a platform of fixing New Zealand’s chronic housing crisis.

The emergence of a COVID-19 cluster in South Australia (see next chart) has persuaded New Zealand’s Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, to scrap the proposed Trans-Tasman travel bubble.

It’s become increasingly apparent that New Zealand is facing another housing bubble.

Statistics New Zealand has released labour force data for the September quarter, which reveals that the seasonally adjusted number of unemployed people rose by 37,000 to reach 151,000, as the impact of COVID-19 hit the labour market.

With New Zealand’s housing market morphing into a new bubble: The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) is being urged to reinstate loan-to-valuation (LVR) mortgage restrictions that were lifted in May: In the ASB’s Economic Weekly ASB senior economist Jane Turner said the “RBNZ’s job just got a lot trickier than usual”.

As expected, Jacinda Ardern’s Labour Party scored a stomping election victory over the weekend and is poised to govern outright holding a majority of 64 seats in the 120-seat parliament – a feat rarely achieved under the nation’s proportional voting system.

The Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) has released its house price data for September, which has reported booming sales and record high prices: As shown above, the seasonally adjusted median house price soared 14.1% year-on-year in September, with Auckland rising 11.8% year-on-year and regions outside of Auckland rising 16.3%.